Roads, a new city gathering place and Milton County were all topics of discussion at Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker’s town hall meeting Monday night.

One of the major city departments discussed was public works, which is in charge of roads, sidewalks and other projects.

“The council and I approved a very healthy budget for this year,” Bodker said of the public works’ funds. “I will tell you that I feel like this year’s budget may be a bit deceptive to folks when we’re done with it because it could turn out to be a one-hit wonder.”

Bodker and the council recently reviewed the top ten worst intersections in Johns Creek. The list only addressed intersections that did not involve state routes since those are under the Georgia Department of Transportation jurisdiction, but it did include Jones Bridge Road at State Bridge Road, Jones Bridge at Old Alabama Road and Jones Bridge at Sargent Road.

“Here’s the good news: We already have plans, we are already either in the heavy planning stage or we’re under construction on the top nine,” he said. “The tenth we are working on a plan and we will bring it to council for funding.”

Public works also has several sidewalk projects in mind. Bodker said working on sidewalks in combination with roads provides for diversified travel options, and a representative from the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce said the visibility of sidewalks around the city makes Johns Creek more attractive to businesses looking to relocate.

City council is working on an evolving “town center” plan for Johns Creek. Bodker said there may be multiple areas instead of one large center, and the funding may be public, private or a mixture of the two.

“Personally, I’ve been very in favor of coming up with a concept and hoping the private market will sort of make it happen,” he said.

Currently, the discussion has been tabled so the council can focus on Technology Park.

One citizen asked what Fulton County does for the residents of Johns Creek, and Bodker both explained how Fulton County has been serving citizens and the movement for Milton County.

“I can’t tell you I’m particularly fond of how Fulton spends our county funds,” he said of taxes. “I’m very much for Milton County – I’m also for the reform of Fulton County, but I just don’t have faith that that can happen.”

He said that the multi-step process to create Milton County – including the Georgia Constitutional amendment – is a major roadblock.

“That said, I personally expend a decent amount of energy … trying to figure out how can we at least squeeze the best governance that we can out of Fulton,” he said.

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